Give credit to the bosses at UAB. Despite a huge disadvantage in competing against research universities in other states, UAB still manages to recruit and keep some of the nation's top physicians and scientists. (Read the editorial here.)

But just think what would happen if the state Legislature thought as much about UAB as it does, say, itself. The Alabama Legislature has no problem giving itself a huge raise -- 62 percent last year for the part-time lawmakers. UAB, meanwhile, has to find the money from wherever to create something it calls the Investment Pool for Action, or IMPACT, to help it keep its top talent.

In Georgia, research universities have received $475 million from the state to fund endowed professors and to match federal grants. In Kentucky, more than $350 million in state money has gone to help research universities nail down federal grants and attract top talent. UAB's IMPACT, though successful, gets a comparatively pitiful $10 million a year that it carved out itself from a near pittance in state funding. But UAB has used those dollars to keep and recruit faculty. As well as UAB does with such little state support, there's no telling what would happen with robust state support. But let's not hold our breath, or we'll need one of those great UAB physicians to revive us.

Why give money to an institution where each $1 spent on research translates to $12 in economic benefit when lawmakers can just give themselves a fat raise instead? What do you think?